Get Ahead By Going Abroad: A Woman's Guide to Fast-track Career Success
By Stacie Nevadomski Berdan and C. Perry Yeatman (HarperCollins $24.95)
_R_EVIEWED _BY PRUDY _TAYLOR BOARD Special to Florida Weekly

Stacie Nevadomski Berdan, a Boca Raton native, has co-authored with C. Perry Yeatman Get Ahead By Going Abroad: A Woman's Guide to Fast-track Career Success, an extremely timely and useful book given today's emphasis on globalization in all business sectors. A very readable book, the chapters are laced with personal anecdotes not only from the authors but also from 50 other women executives. These interviews not only lend credibility, but also keep the book from being a dry recitation of facts, strategies and techniques.

The book begins by helping the reader decide whether or not to work abroad, then shares practical pointers on how to land an international assignment. The next step entails preparation and a chapter is devoted to setting out the administrative details that must be handled before leaving this country - and there are a lot of those! Dating and socializing and adapting to the customs and mores of a different culture are also covered as well as tips on how to settle into a home away from home.

Moreover, this book also helps the careerminded woman plan ahead. For example, in a chapter titled "Year Two and Beyond: Distinguishing Yourself," the authors recommend that readers begin negotiating their next steps with the company a full 12- months before their contracts end and spell out options including the scenario when an employee decides to change companies. The final chapter is appropriately titled "Ensuring a Successful Return."

These two impressively savvy women know whereof they write. Berdan, now a consultant and expert on women and international careers is headquartered in Connecticut and has appeared on NBC's Weekend Today, ABC's Money Matters and Forbes.com TV, and in USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. Berdan lived and worked in Hong Kong for Unilever, one of the world's largest consumer products companies. Berdan graduated from Florida Atlantic University. Her co-author, C. Perry. Yeatman, is senior vice president at Kraft Food and is responsible for international corporate affairs and global issues management. From 1990- 2000, Yeatman lived and worked first in Singapore, then Russia, and finally the United Kingdom.

This is an excellent book that should be read by any woman who wants to take her career to the next level.

(Get Ahead By Going Abroad: A Woman's Guide to Fast-track Career Success, hard cover, 242 pages, hard cover. $24.95. ISBN 978-0-06-134053-6. Published by Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

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